Chapters 1 & 2

• Themes in development: 1) Nature Nurture Debate, 2) Active passive Debate, 3) Continuous Discontinous Debate, 4) one course or many Debate
• Nature Nurture Debate

  Whether development is primarily influenced by biological genetic factors or from experiences
• Active passive Debate

  Whether individuals actively participate in shaping their own development by seeking out opportunities for change or if they're more passive reacting to external influences
• Continuous Discontinous Debate

  Whether developmental change occurs gradually / continuously over time or if it happens in distinct stages where they undergo fundamental shifts in behaviour cognition or identity
• one course or many Debate

  Whether developmental processes are consistent across all individuals regardless of cultural background or if they vary based on individual cultural differences
• What drives development

  • Maturation hereditary influences on aging process
  • Learning change in behaviour due to experience
• Plato emphasized self-control with discipline and believed children are born with innate knowledge
• Hobbes view children as inherently selfish egoists so they required strict control
• Rousseau proposed the doctrine of innate purity which suggested children were born with an intuitive sense of right and wrong but were corrupted by society as they matured
• Descartes mind-body dualism - the immaterial mind and the material body, with mental events causing physical events and vice versa
• Locke proposed Tabula rasa which suggested children are born as a blank slate with no inborn tendencies, so development was the result of experiences
• British Empiricism (Locke, Berkery, Hume) suggested the science of human behaviour was mechanistic
• Social Reform movements research focused on benefitting children and describing the adverse effects that harsh environments can have on children's development, as many children worked in coal mines and factories with long hours and unhealthy, dangerous conditions
• Development psychology is the study of how and why individuals change and remain the same over their lifetime
• Why learn about child development?

  1. Raising and teaching children (help control their anger)
  2. Choosing social policies (meta analysis)
  3. Understanding human nature
• The goals of historical foundations included to help people become better parents, improve children's well-being, and to understand human nature
• The main debates of historical foundations; Are children inherently good or bad? Is development nature-driven or a product of the environment? Are children actively involved in development or are they passive?
• Darwin's Theory of evolution focused on natural selection and survival of the fittest
• Facts underlying natural selection

  • Individuals surviving long enough to reproduce successfully
  • Traits that enhance these chances are more likely to be passed on to subsequent generations
• Darwin discovered that the early prenatal growth of many species were very similar
• Haeckel expanded Darwin's theory with the biogenetic law which is now discredited
• G. Stanley Hill who was inspired by Darwin focused on all aspects of development which aims to identify typical patterns of development within a population by measuring the behavior of numerous children across various age groups.
• The Mental Testing Movement included; Alfred Binet, Normative approach, Defined intelligence as good judgement, planning and critical reflection, Then selected age-graded test items that directly measure these abilities
• The normative approach had answered the question: What are children like? Not questions like: How and why do children become who they are?
• One key aspect of psychoanalytic places emphasis on the role of the unconscious. Individuals’ behavior may be motivated by factors of which they are unaware, such as unconscious desires, emotions, or conflicts which can influence a person’s development and play a role in shaping their personality and behavior.
• Freud’s psychodynamic theory suggests children move through a series of stages, each of which is characterized by conflicts between biological drives and social expectations. The way these conflicts are resolved determines the individual’s ability to learn, get along with others, and cope with anxiety. The stages of the theory are as follows: Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, and Genital.
• The Oral Stage: the first stage of Freud’s psychodynamic theory, begins at birth and lasts for about the first 18 months of life. During this stage, infants put anything and everything into their mouths, which Freud believed was related to the infant’s need for nourishment and comfort.
• The Anal Stage: starting at around 18 months and lasting until about 3 years old. Potty training occurs during this stage, and the child learns to control their bodily functions. According to Freud, conflicts in this stage can result in either obsessive or messy behavior later in life
• The Phallic Stage: occurs between ages 3 and 6 years old, and children may notice their genitals and self-stimulate. This stage is also known for the Oedipus and Electra complexes, where children may develop an unconscious attraction toward their opposite-sex parent and rivalry with the same-sex parent.
• The Latency Stage: from 6 to 12 years old, Freud believed that sexual energy becomes dormant, and children focus on developing social and intellectual skills.
• 1. The Genital Stage: begins in adolescence and lasts through adulthood, where sexual energy is focused outward on others.
• Behaviourism is based on the belief that individuals’ experiences shape their behavior. If you want to teach a child something, you must provide them with the appropriate training.
• Behaviorists view humans as machines that respond predictably to inputs. Therefore, if you provide the right inputs, the desired outcome can be achieved.
• The 3 types of behaviourism are Classical Conditioning (Pavlov and Watson), Operant Conditioning (Thorndike and Skinner), and Social Cognition (Bandura)
• Habituation refers to the process of learning what not to respond to.
• Classical conditioning occurs when an individual learns through association of events
• operant conditioning involves learning from the consequences of our behavior
• tenacity involves accepting a belief based on the idea that “we have always known it to be this way”. Statements are presented repeatedly and after time are accepted as true. The method is rarely examined or evaluated and is based on habit or superstition. Examples of this method include television advertising and political campaigns.
• Common sense and intuition are also used to acquire knowledge. This method is based on our own past experiences and our perceptions of the world. Information is accepted as truth because it “feels right,” and we rely on gut feeling. However, experience can be limited, and this method can have bias.
• The authority method involves accepting an idea because an authority figure tells us that it is so. This method can be useful, especially in fields where we do not have much knowledge. Consulting a book, people, television, the web, or a newspaper all appeals to authority. For example, in a classroom setting, students rely on their instructors as authority figures to impart knowledge to them.